September 2 Energy News

September 2, 2017

World:

¶ The renewables arm of General Electric announced that it has reached 5 GW of installed wind capacity in Brazil and that it will commission 600 MW during September. The 600 MW of turbines to be commissioned this month, which are included in the 5-GW milestone, are located at three previously announced projects. [Renewables Now]

GE wind turbine

¶ ABB has made two project supply deals to support wind and solar energy. ABB is a Swiss developer of power electronics and storage solutions for clean energy. It will install a 2-MW battery to support the 90-MW Burbo Bank offshore wind farm in the UK and has a supply contract to install its solar inverters at 750 Indian railway stations. [pv magazine]

¶ South Africa’s energy ministry is to sign delayed power purchase agreements by the end of October with several renewable energy projects, the South African Wind Energy Association said. The projects, from the country’s Round 3.5 and 4 renewable energy programs, have a total investment value of ZAR58 billion (€3.8 billion, $4.5 billion). [reNews]

Vestas wind turbines in South Africa (Vestas image)

¶ Voltalia, an international player in renewable energy, has announced starting construction on an 8.2-MW solar power plant in France. The 8.2 MW power plant is one of the projects won by Voltalia during the 2013 national solar tender. The plant will be located in the city of Alleins, in the Bouches-du-Rhône area. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶ The Ethiopian Electric Power company is inviting qualified bidders to express interest for the procurement of full drilling services at the Dubti Field, for the Tendaho Geothermal Power Project. The project is to support the economic development of Ethiopia through the geothermal power, enhancing Ethiopian resilience to climate change. [ThinkGeoEnergy]

Geothermal plant in Ethiopia (ThinkGeoEnergy image)

¶ Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas is working with US electric vehicle giant Tesla to develop an efficient means of linking up wind farms with battery storage. Vestas confirmed their partnership with Tesla to BusinessGreen. They said the partnership is part of a wider program consisting of around 10 projects. [www.businessgreen.com]

¶ Official preliminary data from the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has revealed that the country added 900 MW of solar capacity in the first six months of the year. Cumulative installed PV capacity stood at 11,872 MW at the end of 2016, the BEIS data shows, rising to 12,720 MW by June 30. [pv magazine]

Rooftop solar system in the UK (Solarcentury image)

US:

¶ Tesla CEO Elon Musk foresees the market for Model 3 vehicles swelling to 700,000 vehicles, as EVs become more common. However, having EVs selling in these larger volumes could have some unintended side effects. For starters, a sudden, large-scale surge in electric vehicle charging will have an impact on our electricity grid. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Washington DC has become the world’s first LEED Platinum city. This is in part because of what it has done installing solar energy on its municipal buildings. In the past two years, solar power installed on the roofs of 28 public schools, other educational buildings, police and fire facilities now produce as much as 7 MW of solar power. [pv magazine USA]

EPA headquarters (Creative Commons)

¶ Petaluma, California, long a hotbed for rooftop solar electricity projects, is about to take renewable energy generation to the next level. Two area landowners are embarking on projects to build 1-MW solar arrays, which will be able to power 300 homes each. The projects are the first of their kind under a program from Sonoma Clean Power. [PennEnergy]

¶ The explosive expansion of Houston into prairies to the west helped make the city affordable for the 345 people who moved there on an average day. It also paved over thousands of acres that the Army Corps of Engineers had intended to be used for flood-control projects to help control deluges like the ones from Harvey. [Beaumont Enterprise]

Gordon Prendergast and the kayak he bought toget to his home (Photo: Nomaan Merchant, AP)

¶ A group of 14 attorneys general and local officials are urging the EPA to retract a “legally incorrect” letter sent to states in March that said they do not have to comply with the Clean Power Plan. The officials wrote that the CPP “remains the law of the land” despite a Supreme Court hold on the rule, and asked the EPA to retract the letters from Pruitt. [EcoWatch]

¶ SolarWorld Americas has supplied solar panels totalling 14.2-MW to Cyrq Energy’s Patua PV project in Nevada. The project is sited next to a geothermal plant to provide constant power generation, SolarWorld said. Sacramento Municipal Utility District is buying electricity generated by the solar and geothermal plants, both owned by Cyrq. [reNews]

Patua PV project in Nevada (SolarWorld image)

¶ Empowered by Illinois’ new Future Energy Jobs Act, solar companies have approached farmers around Will County about using some of their property for solar farms. With offers of $800 per acre, compared to $160 to $180 for a really good crop yield, some older farmers are considering the steady cash flow as they head into retirement. [Chicago Tribune]

¶ Georgia Power told state regulators this week that it wants to keep building two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta. Georgia Power will have Bechtel build the reactors. This will add billions of dollars of extra costs and additional years of delays, but Georgia Power says completing the project is the best choice. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]